Our Officers
Dr. Lester Ruppersberger
President
Dr. Lester Ruppersberger is a retired NFP-only Ob/Gyn physician. Prior to retirement, he had an active practice in Bucks County. He is Past President (2015) of the national Catholic Medical Association after having served on the board for 13 years. He is a certified Natural Family Planning instructor for the Archdiocese of Phila. He had a radio program on a local EWTN affiliate for 15 years called ‘NFP…for Life’ with his wife, Betty, along with teaching Pre-Cana and he currently is the medial director for two crisis pregnancy centers and serves on the board of the Couple to Couple League. He is actively involved in medical student activities, serving on the Boot Camp Committee as well as having authored several papers in the Linacre Quarterly. He is married for 49 years to his wife, Betty, and has two grown children and 10 grandchildren.
Dr. Amanda Stahl-Piraino
Vice President
Dr. Amanda Stahl- Piraino grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania and graduated from the University of Scranton with her undergraduate degree in Philosophy and Biology. She earned her medical degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, and where she met her husband Tom. Amanda chose family medicine as an outward expression of her faith stating, “it is a dedication to walking with our patients when they struggle to stand: to walk with them on good and bad days, to fight for their well-being when they cannot fight for themselves, and to hear their hopes, dreams, and fears when others find it hard to listen.” She is interested in preventative care for all ages, obesity medicine, and osteopathic manipulation. She enjoys Disney, cooking, and walking her German Shepherd, Stella. Upon completing her residency, she took a position with Main Line HealthCare Family Medicine at Riddle Hospital in Meda, PA.
N. Joseph Schrandt, MD
Treasurer
Dr. Schrandt was born and raised in eastern Iowa, graduated from University of Minnesota Medical School and completed neurology residency at the University of Iowa. After a year of epilepsy fellowship in Minneapolis, he practiced general adult neurology there for five years before moving to Wilmington, Delaware along with his wife, Dr. Mary McCrossan and their three children. Here, he continues to practice neurology along with his two partners and two midlevel practitioners.
Dr. Schrandt joined the CMA and completed the certification course in Health Care Ethics from the National Catholic Bioethics Center in 2012. He has served as Delaware state director for the CMA since 2016.
Mary McCrossan, MD
Secretary
Mary McCrossan, M.D. is a family physician in Delaware. She practices in the St. Francis Wound Center and as a clinical preceptor in the family medicine resident's office. She is married to Joseph Schrandt, M.D. they have 3 children, 2 sons-in-law and 2 grandchildren, so far.
Dr McCrossan first became aware of the CMA more than 20 years after medical school, as she researched Catholic teaching when serving as a children's weekend religious ed. instructor. This happy discovery has lead to spiritual and professional growth including increased work in prolife activity and fertility awareness based women's health.
Robert J. Motley, MD, MHCDS
Vice President of Student Outreach
Robert J Motley, MD, MHCDS is Clinical Professor and Vice Chair of Community Medicine
and Director of the Physician Shortage Area Program in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Sidney Kimmel Medical College (SKMC) and Thomas Jefferson University. A native of Philadelphia, Dr. Motley graduated from LaSalle University and Jefferson Medical College (now SKMC). Bob remained at Jefferson for residency training in Family Medicine. He practiced Family Medicine for 19 years in Bucks and Montgomery Counties, Pennsylvania. From 2001 to 2004 he served as Chairman of his 34 clinician group,TriValley Primary Care. During this era, Bob was a medical student preceptor and mentor to Catholic medical students in the Philadelphia area.
As a faculty member in the Family Medicine residency at Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN), Allentown, PA (2006-2015), Dr. Motley coordinated the chronic care, geriatrics and ethics portions of the residency curriculum and was also a practicing clinician. He was honored three times as Resident Teacher of the Year (2009-2011). Dr. Motley served as the Department of Family Medicine’s Vice Chair of Network Collaboration and as President of the LVHN Medical Staff (2012-2014),then as the Leonard Parker Pool Chair of the Department of Community Health (2015-2018). In 2018, Bob came back to Philadelphia and Jefferson.
Dr. Motley completed the NaPro Medical Consultant course at the St. Paul VI Institute in 2010. That year, he and Dr. Marguerite Duane co-founded the Fertility Appreciation Collaborative to Teach the Science (FACTS), an academic learning community dedicated to promoting the science supporting evidence-based natural family planning methods. Bob was also a conference planner and presenter for the CMA Student Boot Camp from 2013-2017.
Dr. Motley is a Diplomate of the American Board of Family Medicine, holds a Certificate of Added Qualification in Geriatric Medicine and a Master of Health Care Delivery Science from Dartmouth College. He and his wife Jeanne-Marie live in the Delaware Valley and have five adult children, four of whom are in the health professions. They have 11 grandchildren and are expecting 3 more in the coming year.
Dr. Brian Wojiechowski
Immediate Past President
Dr. Brian Wojiechowski is a practicing hematologist/oncologist with Alliance Cancer Specialists as part of Mainline Health Partners; he is board certified in hematology/oncology and completed his fellowship in Hematology and Oncology at Lankenau Medical Center. He obtained his medical degree from Temple University School of Medicine.
Dr. Wojciechowski completed his Internal Medicine internship and residency at Lankenau Medical Center. Dr. Wojciechowski is a proud native of South Philadelphia. His research has been presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. He is devoted to his faith and his family. He views cancer as a scientifically complex disease with unique psychological, social, and spiritual dimensions. He takes this perspective into his relationships with patients. He has also served on the Boot Camp Committee of the Catholic Medical Association and has led the guild as President, while his wife, Dr. Ania Wojciechowski, has served as Secretary.
Fr. Joseph Ryan
Chaplain
Fr. Joseph Ryan has been an Augustinian for forty years and a priest for thirty-six. He earned his doctorate in the History of Medicine and Immigration from American University in 1997. He has published on the History of Catholic physicians and the rise of scientific medicine. He is an Associate Teaching Professor in the History Department of Villanova University. Fr. Joseph Ryan has taught at Villanova for 25 years. He is a member of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher and the Knights of Columbus. He was the President of the Archdiocesan Historical Commission for the canonization of Servant of God Fr. William Atkinson, OSA. On weekends, Fr. Joseph Ryan celebrates mass at St. Matthew’s in Conshohocken where he has served for twenty-four years.
Dr. Kate Walsh
Resident Representative
Dr. Kate Walsh is a first-year resident in Family Medicine at Jefferson. She is a lifelong Catholic who grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and went to Notre Dame for undergrad. It was at Notre Dame on the March for Life where she met her now husband, Conor Bradley, who was a fourth- year medical student at Jefferson.
Upon graduating from college, Dr. Kate Walsh started at Ohio State for medical school. While there, she enjoyed being a lector and usher at her parish and was involved in the OSU chapter of the CMA. She loves sports and staying active, and thanks to Conor, she has a new favorite hobby of playing tennis. Within family medicine, she is passionate about fertility awareness and NFP, and normalizing their inclusion in women's health discussions. She is excited to be moving to Philadelphia and starting this next chapter of her life and career.
Jocelyn Chau
Student Rep-Elect.
Jocelyn Chau is a MS3 at U Penn Medicine. She’s from Toronto originally, and did her undergrad in Biochem at Yale where she also ran track and cross-country. She is interested in Pediatrics, and is excited about building community among Catholic med students as they seek to model themselves after Christ, the Divine Physician!
Faith Kean
Student Rep-Elect
Faith Kean is a third-year medical student at Drexel University College of Medicine. She grew up in Montgomery County, Maryland and earned undergraduate degrees in Neurobiology and Theology at Georgetown University. She is hoping to pursue a career in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, particularly interested in restoring functionality to patients and treating the whole person as a doctor. Her interests include bioethics, sports medicine, palliative care, and philosophy of medicine.
